News of the Week

Two weeks after caustic sludge—a byproduct of the aluminum industry whose pH can reach a dizzying 13—broke through a reservoir near Kolontár, Hungary, scientists say its environmental impact may be less severe than widely broadcast images suggested at first.

At a meeting last week in Turin, Italy, a group of exoplanet hunters announced that its observations show no sign of Gliese 581g, which only a couple of weeks earlier a rival group had announced was the long-sought Earth-like habitable planet.

A series of reports of new water-related results from the moon beginning on page 463 of this week's issue of Science shows that the moon's recently discovered hydrosphere is nothing like Earth's watery regime, and many enigmas remain.

Rinderpest, an infectious disease that has decimated cattle and devastated their keepers for millennia, is gone. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization announced on 14 October in Rome that a 16-year eradication effort has succeeded and fieldwork has ended.

ScienceNOW reported this week that 2010 may be the worst year ever for coral death in the Caribbean, Iota Horologii boasts the shortest starspot cycle ever seen, the overall winner of the "Dance Your Ph.D." contest has been announced, and subtle differences in grammar can have a strong impact on people's perceptions, among other stories.

As part of an effort to build a research infrastructure, an Iraqi delegation visited the United States recently to study the U.S. system. Last week, Science spoke to two leaders of the delegation: Samir Raouf, Iraq's senior deputy minister for science and technology, and Hamid Ahmed, who advises the prime minister on education and higher education.

ScienceInsider reported this week that the presence of protesters last week at an agribiotech symposium at Huazhong Agricultural University led to an impromptu session between members of the general public and scientists that revealed the public's deep distrust of—and confusion about—genetically modified crops, among other stories.

About The Cover

COVER Surface temperature map of the south polar region of the Moon acquired by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment. Blue and violet areas are intensely cold impact craters. The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) spacecraft struck one of these craters (near the center of the frame), revealing the presence of water ice and other frozen volatiles. See the six research papers beginning on page 463. Image: David A. Paige/UCLA/JPL/GSFC/NASA